


Don't Run Off With a Prince

by nunaseaweed



Series: Olympiantober 2020 [6]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Flirting, Fluff, annabeth and jason are siblings, college student annabeth, honestly nothing else, just fluff, mermaid percy, percy hates triton with every inch of his soul, percy misses ariel, percy's a prince, soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-14
Updated: 2020-10-14
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:41:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,284
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27002158
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nunaseaweed/pseuds/nunaseaweed
Summary: Day 6 - Mermaid
Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson
Series: Olympiantober 2020 [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1961185
Comments: 6
Kudos: 57





	Don't Run Off With a Prince

**Author's Note:**

> Hello guys, my name is sleep deprived. Here’s mermaid Percy pining after college student Annabeth, featuring disney princess ariel but not really. Thank you for coming to my ted talk.

“Hey.”

Annabeth looked up from her book, and then down, over the edge of the pier she was sitting on. Surely enough, the voice had come from the handsome black-haired man, not too much older than her, swimming in the water below her.

A flash of a sparkly green tail confirmed her suspicions. He was a mermaid.

Annabeth had never actually seen a mermaid before, since she had lived in Illinois her entire life, and never actually been to the ocean. She heard L.A. had lots of mermaids, especially Santa Monica pier, so she wasn’t surprised. She’d also heard they were massive flirts. Her brother wouldn’t like that.

“Hi,” she responded, turning back to her book. Out of the corner of her eye she saw his tail flap, but he didn’t leave. Oh gods, this was a conversation wasn’t it.

“Do you come here often?” he asked, crossing his arms and laying his head on top of the dock.

Putting down her book next to her, she answered, “I’ve been starting too lately. I recently moved in with my brother down the beach to go to college.”

His green eyes widened, “You didn’t live here before?”

“Nope. Never lived near the beach at all, so I’d like to enjoy it.”

The mermaid smirked, “Never been to the ocean huh? Bet I’m the first mermaid you’ve ever seen.” She nodded. “Well I’ll take that as some sort of compliment. The name’s Percy.”

“Annabeth.” Percy smiled up at her. “Do all mermaids-”

“Look this hot? No, I’m just special.”

Annabeth laughed, “I was going to say ‘have green eyes’”

Percy grinned, “Nah, again, I’m special. For the other reason too,”

“Sure.” 

“Not a lot of mermaids have green eyes you know,” Percy informed, swishing his tail around.

“I never knew that.”

“You seem like someone who knows a lot of things though,” Percy noticed, eyeing her book. “I’ve never really seen someone read a dictionary with such interest before.”

Chuckling, Annabeth picked up her book. “It’s not actually a dictionary,” she informed, taking off the cover. “But two weeks into college, my brother would expect me to be studying still. He doesn’t need to know I’m already fluent in Spanish.” 

Percy laughed, a really beautiful laugh, Annbeth found herself noticing. “He sounds tough.”

“Jason’s not bad,” Annabeth sighed. “Just a little too attached to rules I think. Too much of a goody-two shoes. But when you're living with one you gotta act like one.” Percy nodded. “Speaking of which, I should be getting home.”

“Already?” he asked. “Aren’t you gonna stay for the sunset?”

“I’d love to,’ Annabeth said, putting her book back into her bag. “But we’re having dinner with Jason’s best friend Reyna today. Seven o’clock sharp, and they’re both very punctual.”

“Well at least let me walk you home,” Percy offered.

Annabeth looked at him doubtfully. “You can’t walk.”

Percy smirked. “Don’t believe everything they tell you, Luv.” He snapped his fingers, once, twice, then pulled himself up onto the dock, completely dry. Suddenly he was wearing dark green shorts and a blue Hawiian shirt. 

The blonde stared. “What Ariel type magic is this?”

“Oh nothing like that I assure you. Ariel made some bad choices,” Percy said, starting to walk down the dock.

Annabeth followed him, raising her eyebrows, “How do you know?”  
“I knew her. Know her. And I know for a fact that if she had come to me, instead of trusting a random seawitch and getting cursed, things would’ve turned out a lot better! She probably would’ve been able to actually come home. It took me forever to forgive her for that,” Percy explained, lowering his eyes.

“Were you close?” Annabeth asked.

Percy nodded, “Very. She...she was like family. Now I barely see her, and if I do I gotta be sneaky. Her dad, unlike me, never found it in himself to forgive her. That relationship went down the drain. Don’t run off with a prince, I doubt your family would appreciate it.”

Annabeth’s eyes widened, “You’ve met Triton?”

“Yea, bit of an ass he is, but can’t say that to his face now can I? Supposed to keep him on your good side.”

“Do all mermaids get to meet Triton?” Annabeth questioned. “Or let me guess…”

Percy’s eyes glinted in the sunset as he looked at her, “Told you I’m special, Luv.”

She didn’t know what to say to that, but thankfully they’d arrived at her and Jason’s apartment. “Thank you for walking me home, Percy.”

“No problem, Annabeth. I’ll hope to see you around,” Percy smiled, grabbing her hand softly and kissing her knuckles.

“What a prince.”

His eyes sparkled again. “Why thank you.”

Annabeth opened the door, ignoring the blond man standing in the kitchen across the room. “Oh and Percy!”

The black-haired man turned around, still smiling. “Yeah?”

“I’ll be at the dock again tomorrow.”

He winked in response, “I’ll see you there, Luv.”

Closing the door and throwing the bag on the couch, Annabeth smiled and sat down at the small dining table.

“Good afternoon, sister,” Jason greeted mockingly, sitting down in front of her with sour cream and onion pringles.

“Hi, Jason,” Annabeth sighed, reaching for a chip.

“I see you picked up a little more than Spanish at the beach today.”

Annabeth rolled her eyes, “Jas-”

“I don’t need an explanation, I’m not Mom! Gimme the grades I give you the freedom, remember? But seriously, if you have a boyfriend I need to give him the speech.”

“He’s not my boyfriend!” Annabeth defended, cheeks getting red for some unfathomable reason. “We’re just talking! I’m gonna go change.”

Jason bit a chip as she got up. Just before he reached her room he called after her, “You do realize talking is the step before dating right?”

Annabeth groaned and shut her door.

Percy looked at the bench where Annabeth had been sitting-would be sitting tomorrow-and back on the ocean where the moon’s reflection sparkled in the waves. He definitely wasn’t gonna tell her. Not yet anyway. Not that it mattered.

Sighing, he dove back into the sea, snapping twice like earlier so his tail came back. Human legs were awfully dangly. 

He swam down, toward the soft green light radiating from Atlantis, lighting the surrounding area nicely. Just as he expected, a scaly tail came up next to his smooth green one, a smooth soft pink one following.

“You really went up there and flirted with that girl for an hour?” Leo asked, raking a hand through his hair and floating in front of Percy. “Your dad just doesn’t care whether you work or not huh?”

“Oh but we already knew that Repair Boy,” Piper said, slapping his fiery orange tail away with her pink one. “Percy’s a second born. Royal duties don’t matter much to him.”

The eldest boy sighed. “Why should they? What chunk of the ocean am I inheriting that I have to learn to be  _ princely _ for? I don’t give a crap, but Triton does, doesn’t he? So much so he banished his own daughter for running away with a human.”

Percy’s relationship with his brother had never been necessarily good, but any hope of a positive bond was destroyed when Triton banished Ariel. Forget her father, Percy loved his niece with every piece of his soul. Besides Piper and Leo, she was his best friend, being only two years younger than him.

Ariel was sixteen when she fell in love with Eric. Mermaids that are royalty get the power to change between human legs and tails when they turn eighteen, but she was in a rush. Percy however, was pretty skilled in what he could only really describe as ‘sea magic’. If Ariel had come to him, he would’ve figured something out for her, given her legs for a day with  _ no _ price or anything to help her. But she went to Ursula instead, got herself cursed, and banished. That’s why teenagers don’t make decisions.

Percy and Ariel had seen each other occasionally since, and while things weren’t the same, they were okay. However, the fights between Triton and Percy over Ariel’s banishment had made it into the news. Last time they spoke, almost two years ago, he’d told his younger brother that his love for his niece blinded him, and that’s why he’d never be King. So Percy didn’t say a single word, packed his bags, and left the castle.

Living in a manor in the outskirts of Atlantis wasn’t half bad, amazing compared to seeing his jerk of a brother’s face everyday. Despite his abrupt moving out, Poseidon demanded his presence in court every couple weeks, whenever Triton wasn’t there, to keep his princely status apparent to the public. His father still asked for his input in important decisions and tried to make him feel important to no avail. Percy may have been a mermaid, but his mother was very much human. But Poseiden had failed to come to Ariel's defense, therefore losing his second son’s respect.

“Just because first-borns get the glory doesn’t mean second-borns aren’t needed Perc. You know that,” Piper consoled.

“I don’t  _ want _ to be needed. I don’t care about the royal status or anything, it doesn’t define me. I’d like to live a normal life, but they’ll never give me that either.”

Leo sighed. “They won’t, that’s right. But the question that matters here is are you going to let them control you.”

Percy smiled, “Of course not.”

Annabeth was there the next day, and the next, and the next. It was the fifth day (not that Percy was keeping track) that she’d known.

They’d been sitting side by side on the bench, watching the sun set with ice cream in their hands and “Run” on her ipod, chatting like they'd been doing for almost a week, when a voice piped up from behind them.

“You know, Jason had told me about Annabeth and some boy, but I hadn’t believed it! Annabeth Chase talking to a boy that isn’t me or her brother?” Frank gasped. “Unheard of!”

Hazel giggled, “Annabeth talking to anyone that isn’t me, you, Jason or Reyna is unheard of.”

“Guys!” Annabeth exclaimed, her smile growing large. Percy found himself smiling too. “Where did you come from?”  
“Illinois,” Frank deadpanned.

“Question is, where did you come from?” Hazel asked teasingly to Percy as Annabeth hugged Frank. 

“The ocean.” Hazel’s eyes widened as Percy held out his hand. “Percy Jackson, resident mermaid of Santa Monica beach.”

“Frank and Hazel,” Hazel mentioned, motioning between herself and Frank and shaking his hand. “But you have legs?”

Percy chuckled, “Right, let me fix that.” He made his tail appear, causing Hazel and Frank’s jaws to drop, then made it disappear again. “As dangly and weird human legs are, they’re quite useful on land.”

“I didn’t know mermaids could do that,” Hazel admitted. 

“Most can’t. Just like most don’t have green eyes. Like I told Annabeth a couple days ago, I’m special.”

“Seems like it,” Frank agreed, also shaking Percy’s hand, then turning back to Annabeth. “I’m so sorry, we wanted to surprise you so we came here first, but we still need to put our bags away and wash up.”

“You guys drove all this way and came to the pier first? Go to Jason’s already! Oh here’s my key, he’s not home,” Annabeth fussed. “Take a shower and a nap, I’ll be home soon.”

“Alright, alright, Annie. We’ll see you for dinner, bring your friend if he has time,” Frank offered.

Annabeth turned to Percy but he answered quickly, “I’ll have to see. My schedule’s pretty unpredictable.”

“Because you’re special, right?” Hazel guessed, smiling.

“Quite right.”

“Well I’ll hope to see you soon Percy. Love you Annabeth!” Frank and Hazel gave her one last hug.

“Love you too, text me when you get there!”

Annabeth sat down on the bench next to Percy again as they left, “I had no idea they were coming this weekend.”

“Childhood friends have a habit of surprising you,” Percy chuckled.

“Do yours?”

Percy spotted a glint of orange and pink in the ocean as he answered, “All the time. Piper and Leo are probably the most annoying friends you could ask for. You know, this one time, they went around stalking me.”

“Did they?” Annabeth asked curiously.

“I don’t know, why don’t you ask them?”

Annabeth’s confusion faded away quickly as Piper and Leo surfaced, the girl smacking the other on the arm slightly. “I told you we should’ve taken the disappearing bracelets!”

“Wow, they planned to steal my stuff too. I have the best friends in the world.” 

“You do!” Leo answered, gesturing to his tail. “A little help Magic Boy?”

Percy rolled his eyes, muttering under his breath and flicking Leo’s forehead instead of just touching it. He did the same to Piper and their tails shimmered away to legs, both of them lifting themselves up onto the dock. Leo’s clothes were just like Percy’s, but with an orange fire print shirt and black shorts. Piper, however, had jean shorts and the same pink tank top she’d been wearing in the water, with an oversized jean jacket over it.

“You can do magic?” Annabeth asked.

“A little bit. Everyone can, I’m just kinda skilled.”

“Skilled in the art of being humble I see,” Piper added. “He’s been declared the best by the court.”

“Wow. You didn’t tell me that Perc!”

Percy looked down, “It was never brought up.”

Suddenly another mermaid surfaced by the dock, looking hurried. “Sire!” he called turning to Percy.

The prince’s eyes widened, but before he could say anything the messenger continued, “The King demands your presence in the royal court right away! He needs the Pearl Prince to help him with the new laws. His majesty said he informed you of this meeting earlier and if you were to deliberately avoid another court session, there would be dire consequences.”

Annabeth’s eyes widened, and Percy stared down at the dock for a moment. Piper noticed and spoke, “Jake, tell his majesty the King that Prince Perseus will be right there please. Give him a minute.”

Jake nodded at her, “As you wish Lady Piper.” He nodded to Leo, “Lord,” and bowed to Percy, “My prince,” and swam off without a second thought. 

Percy kept his head hung as Annabeth asked, “Prince?”

Leo seemed to finally realize what had happened, “Dude, you didn’t tell her?” Percy didn’t respond.

Piper sighed in understanding, “He wanted her to like him for who he really is, not his title. Remember Rachel?”

Leo rolled his eyes in the mention of the Prince’s ex-girlfriend, “That bi-”

Piper slapped his arm, “Not the time Repair Boy! Let’s go, Percy has some explaining to do.” They jumped back into the water, tails reappearing quickly, and swam away.

“Oh my gods. You’re  _ that _ Percy? I’d heard about you in books and online but I never…” Annabeth trailed off, her eyes drifting toward the ocean. “I never realized Atlantis was in Santa Monica.”

“Wasn’t always,” Percy finally said, following her gaze. “I like it better here than anywhere else though. Finally have some good memories with the random humans around here. With you.”

Annabeth smiled at him, but it dropped a little when she realized. “You’re the Pearl Prince. The half human prince who the world didn’t know existed until he was caught playing with Ariel at her 6th birthday party.”

“One, Ariel actually tried to tell people she had an uncle before that but they all laughed at her, and two, I’m technically not half human. I’m a full mermaid, I was born that way, even though my mother was human. And I’m a talented one too. But my mother might be the reason I can walk on land easier than everyone else. You should’ve seen Ariel’s first try.”

Annabeth laughed, but her eyes looked sad when she asked, “Do you have to go?”

“I’ll get in trouble if I don’t.” Her eyes cast down. “But that doesn’t mean I’m gonna listen.”

She smiled up at him, but shook her head. “No, you go ahead. You have work to do and I have to go home.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes Perc, or your majesty I guess,” Annabeth joked.

Percy groaned, “ _ Please _ no! I  _ hate _ formalities.”

“Says the man who kissed my hand when we first met.”

“I liked you. You deserved it.”

Annabeth’s eyes twinkled at the compliment as she stood up, grabbing her bag, “I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“You always do.”

Annabeth leaned against the door with her eyes closed, breathing in the smell of fresh pasta from the kitchen. 

“Someone had a good day!” Reyna called from where she was in the kitchen with Frank. “Does it have anything to do with that boy everyone’s been telling me about?”

She threw her bag on the couch next to Hazel, rolling her eyes and going to the kitchen to give Reyna a hug. “I mean, a little bit. Not in the way you think though, he’s just...special.”

“Special in what way?” she asked, dusting her hands on her apron.

“The royalty type of way,” Annabeth admitted as the apartment went silent.

“Oh my gods, he’s  _ that _ Percy?” Jason, who had appeared by the island, asked in wonder.

“That’s what I said,” Annabeth laughed. “And yea. I’ve been flirting with the Pearl Prince for a week without knowing it.”

“Damn,” Frank whispered under his breath as he kept kneading the pasta dough. Hazel whimpered from the couch in agreement.

Jason sighed, “Well, I can’t threaten a prince!”

“Actually, based on his relationship with Ariel, he’d probably appreciate it,” Annabeth inquired, leaning against the cabinet. Suddenly the doorbell rang. “I’ll get it!”

Annabeth opened the door lazily, not bothering to check the window to see who it is. She stood with her mouth open in surprise when she saw him. “Percy?”

Percy smiled and handed her the flowers he was holding. “The court meeting didn’t last that long. And I heard it was a human tradition to bring flowers to someone you like.” 

Reyna whispered to Jason as Annabeth smiled, “And they  _ aren’t _ dating?”

“That’s what I was informed.”

“I hope you don’t mind, I brought my idiots with me,” Percy mentioned, gesturing to Piper and Leo behind him, who waved politely.

“No of course I don’t mind, I’d love to get to know them.” Annabeth turned around to call over to Reyna, “Do you think we have space for three more?”

“You know me, I always anticipate thirds!”

The entire dinner was spent embarrassing Annabeth and Percy with baby stories, discussing Piper, Leo and Percy’s shenanigans with the nobles, and how it had always been Annabeth’s dream to live near the ocean. Soon enough, Reyna and Jason started cleaning up, and Piper, Leo, Hazel, and Frank kept talking while Annabeth led Percy out to the balcony.

They looked out onto a glittering ocean, a sea of sapphires and diamonds, and Annabeth suddenly asked, “Did you mean it when you said you liked me?”

“Of course I did. I wouldn’t have spent the last five days doing nothing but talking to you if I didn’t,” Percy said obliviously.

“You know what I meant…” Annabeth verified, blushing in the moonlight.

“Will this answer your question,” Percy asked, smiling softly and grabbing her hand, turning her towards him. “Annabeth Chase, would you like to go out with me to dinner someday that you aren’t vigorously reading through your english to spanish dictionary that’s actually a novel?”

Annabeth grinned, “I thought I wasn’t supposed to run off with a prince?”

“I think I’m an exception. I’m special, remember Luv?”


End file.
